<p>I'm first semester, first year at Berkeley. When do you think I should start volunteering at clinics and hospitals? When is too soon?</p>
<p>Never too soon.</p>
<p>really? When did you start blue?</p>
<p>January freshman year. Earlier would have been better; not that I think I started "too late" or anything.</p>
<p>Don't mean to threadjack but...
I'm a similar first year, first quarter (we run on quarters) student at SD.<br>
I was thinking of starting research this fall or winter if I could.
Is it be harder to get a research opportunity than a volunteer opportunity? :</p>
<p>I should probably give it a few weeks after school starts to see if I can handle it well enough, huh?
I was thinking more along research than volunteer, because (1) I kind of like doing research :D;;; (2) UCSD's forte is research, I believe?</p>
<p>I'm also in the same boat as I'm a freshman but I want to start some sort of research/volunteer either during the school year or the summer. My school had a mini job fair and I was looking for something health related but some of the stuff was work study while there was volunteering at the hospital; I asked the representative what sort of stuff a volunteer does and its mostly clerical work giving patients the applications to fill etc, there is no clinical exposure. I looked at the universities hospital for research and the positions were for full time graduates who at least had a bachler's. Anyway I'm still trying to get a local oppurtunity and if nothing then I'll look for the summer internships which I'lll probably won't get into. </p>
<p>By the way, is there any point joining a club if you know that you won't have any significant position and just be a participant?</p>
<p>we have to start THIS soon? woah boy...im starting to panic again...</p>
<p>^^;;; Not really. You don't have to, and it depends on the person.
Some people, they need the time to get adjusted to a new setting first, and they slowly ease into volunteer/research/etc at their own pace.
I'm actually wanting to do research asap because I just had a good experience at SNU during the summer, and I want to further it as much as I can whenever I can.</p>
<p>I'd say otherwise, I'm usually slow to get adjusted to things, so I would've started my sophomore year but... :) I have my own agenda and I am thinking of studying abroad either a semester or a year in my sophomore year (if I can!) so I want to squeeze in what I can.</p>
<p>You don't HAVE to do anything. You could always win a Rhodes Scholarship, which will obscure any other necessary qualifications.</p>
<p>That was a (sort of) joke. While you should aim for as much clinical experience as possible, starting this early is not "necessary", just beneficial.</p>
<p>What is Rhodes scholarship? Also, blue, did you get clinical exposure that January or was it clerical?</p>
<p>man...reading syneria's post...now i feel pretty behind...need to step it up...ahaha...</p>
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<p>__________________< Don't~! I'm just anxious that I won't have time to DO much because once I go to study abroad in Korea, I won't have much (if any) opportunities for that there. Especially if I do the yearlong thing. And I don't even know if I'll start this fall/winter. I may wait 'til spring, because I heard a lot of stories of how people bomb freshman grades. :[ And eheheheh, my reasons for wanting to study abroad in Korea isn't the most purest and earnest of reasons. 8) I want to go because I want to go play with all my relatives there, and the friends I made over this summer. HEHEH.</p>
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<p>Rhodes scholarship. HAHAHA haha ha ha... ha.
¬_¬;;; It's only one of the most prestigious scholarships.</p>
<p>I can only dream. I can also dream that I'll win the lottery and marry the ideal nice smart hot guy and have my own menagerie of breeding dogs and...</p>
<p>Ok ok.<br>
Anyways, I too would like to know if you got clinical exposure straight off the bat. Clinical opportunities as a fresh new freshman sounds difficult, but to do clerical... doesn't sound worth it (but I guess you have to start somewhere, maybe?).</p>
<p>What do you guys mean by clinical experience? It was an experience... and I was in a clinic...? Certainly that's how I classified it for medical school applications, but you all seem very insistent that... well, I'm not sure what you have in mind. It almost sounds to me as if you're wanting to perform surgery or something.</p>
<p>I dislike hospital volunteering because you don't get to do much. Most of the work will either be clerical (putting together charts and such) or patient discharge. I'm not sure what you are expecting though. It's still classified as clinical experience. There's only so many ways to get clinical experience (volunteering, shadowing, EMT, etc.) so you'll have to think carefully if you plan to forgo hospital volunteering.</p>
<p>I was thinking clinical was more like... watching what they do, maybe help discharge the patients, interact with the patients, etc. Clerical was more like... hole punching/copying stuff, putting together charts, etc.</p>
<p>My dad's a vet and whenever I go to help him, he only lets me make labels for the clients' files, put those files back, and take calls. He wouldn't even let me watch him, or get the animals from the back to discharge them. Makes me a little upset (child labor!) but can't really say anything.</p>
<p>Hence, my distinguishment between "clinical" and "clerical."</p>
<p>So clerical can be classified under clinical experience?</p>